Frances Smith

Frances St. John Smith (1909/1910 – disappeared January 13, 1928) was an American college student who disappeared from Smith College in Massachusetts in January 1928. A body recovered from the Connecticut River in March 1929 was identified as being Smith.

Disappearance Smith was first educated in New York City, then attended Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts, from 1924 through 1927. who later married Charles Lindbergh.

Smith was an 18-year-old freshman when she disappeared from Smith College on January 13, 1928, a Friday. Another friend, who had visited with Smith on Thursday evening, visited Smith's room on both Friday and Saturday, leaving notes each time, which were left undisturbed. Further searching extended to a convent near Quebec City in Canada, based on a report from a railroad conductor who thought a passenger on his train might have been Smith. Paradise Pond, adjacent to the Smith College campus in Northampton, was drained in late March 1928, but nothing of significance was found.

Smith's parents initially offered a reward of $1,000 for their daughter's return, and later increased it to $10,000 . Based on the estimated height and weight and condition of the body, police tentatively identified it as Smith's. Smith's dentist also provided some of her dental fittings, which matched the body. The medical examiner determined the cause of death to be drowning by undetermined circumstances. Smith was buried in Wildwood Cemetery in Amherst, Massachusetts.